Man exploring legal options after iPhone XS Max catches fire

This could very well be the first iPhone XS Max catches fire story of 2019. While the actual incident took place back on December 12th, the story didn’t surface until Friday. Apparently, the owner of the phone in question, Josh Hillard, attempted to contact Apple for a replacement before going public. At first, the company refused to repair or replace the device but later supplied him with a replacement phone. Hillard is still weighing his legal options against the company.

As for how the story unfolded, Hillard says he was eating lunch when he picked up a strange smell in the air. This was proceeded by a hot and burning sensation coming from his rear pants pocket. He then observed green and yellow smoke coming from his iPhone XS Max. Hillard claims the incident caused significant burns to his skin.

Explaining the incident to IDrop News, Hillard said, “Left no other option, I had to exit the room since there was a female in the break room with me and remove my pants. I ran to the boardroom where I got my shoes and pants off as fast as possible. A VP of our company put the fire out with a fire extinguisher because he heard me yelling.”

“Once the phone was extinguished, I was left with a hole in my pants, fire extinguisher on my pants/shoes, and some pain/irritation in my buttocks region where the pocket of my pants was located,” he added.

Hillard further stated, “From the time of first noticing the fire and between removal of the pants and taking the phone out of my pocket and placing it outside, I inhaled A LOT of smoke. Later in the day, the team told me about the video that the office security camera captured.”

Hillard then ventured off to his local Apple Store to inquire about repair or replacement of the iPhone. The Apple Genius at the store offered neither a repair or replacement for the device.

“I went directly to the Apple Store with the burned/melted remains of the phone, case, and plastic screen protector. Once in the Apple Store, I went to the back and asked for a manager. I explained my story and the leader, she said that she would send a senior tech. I told her that I expected a call from customer relations and there was nothing that a tech could tell me about the melted phone. After spending about 20 minutes with an employee and answering questions, she removed the SIM card in effort to pull up my profile but it was melted,” he said.

“The employee told me that she had to call the safety team and took the phone to a back room and did not return or update me on the status of my problem for about 40 minutes. After receiving this cold treatment with zero engagement from the team while waiting, I found a manager to locate the employee with my phone. The employee resurfaced with the phone already packaged and told me that they were going to send it back to the engineering team. The manager then came up to me and said that this is the only way that I could receive a replacement phone,” he added.

Hillard then contacted Apple Care and provided the story and all relevant evidence and information to them. The next day an Apple Care supervisor offered him a new phone. Hillard says the replacement of the iPhone isn’t enough and is looking deeper into legal options for other damages.

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